General Information

Arriving in Delhi

The primary airport for India’s capital and largest city, Indira Gandhi International Airport is located 10 miles (16km) southwest of New Delhi. The busiest airport in India, the facility was named for former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Flights to Indira Gandhi International Airport are available from many destinations worldwide, including London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, Mauritius, Chicago, Abu Dhabi, Doha, and many destinations across the Asian subcontinent. Several low-cost airlines offer cheap flights to Indira Gandhi International Airport, and it’s a base for ten Indian airlines, including jet Airways and Air India.

Currency

The Rupee is the official currency of India. The Indian Rupee may be abbreviated in any of the following formats INR, Rs, or symbol

INR are available as paper notes in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 and 2000.

INR are also available as coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10.

Electricity

The voltage in India is 230 volts. You will require a voltage converter if you are carrying a device that does not accept 230 Volts. Wall sockets accept plugs with two or three round pins. Should you wish to use appliances of 110 volts, most Conference Hotels will provide adaptors on request but it may be useful to carry your own for convenience. Most laptops have adaptors that accept 110-240 volts, but will still need plugs of the type shown below.

Typical Indian 3-Pin and 2-Pin plugs. The separation between the two smaller round pins is 2 cm.

Foreign Exchange

Changing money in India is very simple. Upon arrival in India, foreign currencies can be converted into Rupees at foreign exchange counters at airports. These outlets are open 24 hrs. a day / x7 days a week. You can also find Foreign Exchange desks at star-rated hotels. Traveller’scheques may not be accepted at all banks or hotels.

There are Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) which dispense cash throughout the city. Although these machines are linked to a specific local bank, all major credit and debit cards, both domestic and international, should be accepted. Kindly note that certain credit cards may not be accepted.

Getting Around

Here is what you need to know if you wish to spend a day in town on your own.

Local Transport

Aggregator Cab Operators

Nowadays aggregator cab operators – Ola and Uber have become very popular in India. They have good service in Delhi NCR and one can get a cab wihin minutes of booking. These cabs can be booked through their mobile apps which are available on both Android hand sets and iPhones. Just go to your app store and search for Ola or Uber. Else you can also download the apps from the below links.

With a vision to provide a safe, clean, comfortable, efficient, cost-effective yet sophisticated, and personalized public transport system, radio taxis were introduced in Delhi NCR to improve the commuting experience. If you would like to Rent a Cab or Hire a Cab in Delhi, you can easily avail professional, comfortable, air-conditioned Radio taxi services from various Radio Cab companies.

Radio Taxis are available for local commuting as well as long distance purposes. Hiring a cab in Delhi allow you to get the cab number and driver's mobile number as well.

All cabs are equipped with following features:

Air conditioned luxury cabs.

Round-the- clock availability (24x7), there are no problems of timing and safety./li>

Backed by GPS technology to track location.

Digital cab meters integrated with the GPRS technology and thermal printers for
issuing bill/receipt etc. The billing is done on a per kilometre basis from point to point.

In - Car payment facility; customer can pay through cash or credit card (check credit
card facility with the cab driver) as well.

Also, you can download the mobile phone apps in your cell phones for any of the taxi
services provided above and book cabs online.

Each hotel at Delhi has the facility to arrange for cabs; you can ask the hotel reception for
arranging the cab 15-30 minutes prior.

Auto Rickshaws

Three-wheeled auto rickshaws (also known as “Autos”)are a convenient way to travel within the city. They cost half the fare of a taxi, but are more expensive than buses. Usually autos are metered, but it is good to fix the fare before they take you for a ride. They can be found clustered together in auto stands around the city. If there is no auto-stand near you,you can hail autos by standing on the side of the road and hailing an empty one.

Health

A valid yellow-fever certificate is mandatory for all individuals, who have been or were in transit in Africa, South America six days prior to their arrival in India. The certificate becomes valid 10 days after vaccination. India does not require immunization against small pox or cholera.

Please check the Government of India site for the latest information on the list of countries

Drinking Water

Drinking bottled water at all times is strongly recommended

Insurance and Liability

The Organizers do not take responsibility for any individual, medical, travel or personal insurance. Participants are advised to secure their own insurance policies before departure from their countries, as required.

While every attempt is made to ensure efficient, trouble-free hospitality, including hotel accommodation, sightseeing and tours, participants are advised that no liability accrues to the Organizers in the event of any necessary modifications, including change in itineraries for tours due to delays or cancellations of flights/other exigencies beyond the Organizers’ control.

Local Time

Indian Standard Time (IST) is 5 hours 30 mins ahead of GMT.

Telephone Calls

The Country Code for India is ’91’ and the City Code for Delhi is ’11’ Landline numbers in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai have eight digits, whereas the numbers in smaller cities could have only 4-7 digits. All mobile numbers contain 10 digits.

Area Codes in India are referred to as STD codes. STD codes for some cities are:

In India, both GSM and CDMA (WLL) mobile systems are present. Please contact your mobile service provider in your country to check their roaming partners and tariffs in India. In case you plan on making many local calls in India from your mobile phone, the mobile service provider in your country may be able to provide you with an Indian SIM card. This is a much cheaper way of making local calls as compared with international roaming charges.

Dialling from Outside India into India

To Indian Landline
International access code (’00’ or ‘+’), followed by 91, then STD CODE followed by LANDLINE NO., e.g. +91 11 XXXXXXXX (‘120’ is the STD CODE for Greater Noida).

To Indian Mobile International access code (’00’ or ‘+’), followed by 91 and the 10-digit MOBILE NO., e.g. +91 XXX XXX XXXX.

Dialling within India

From Indian landline to Indian landline
Local call: no prefix required for the landline No.
Long distance call: 0, then STD CODE followed by landline No.

From Indian landline to Indian Mobile
Local call -10 digit Mobile No.
Long distance call: 0, followed by 10 digit Mobile No.

From Indian Mobile to Indian landline
Local or Long distance calls: 0, followed by STD Code, followed by landline No.

From Indian Mobile to Indian Mobile
Local Call – 10 digit Mobile No.
Long distance call – 0, followed by Mobile No.

Dialling out from India to International numbers

The international access code when dialling out of India is ’00’ (or ‘+’ when dialling from a mobile phone).

Tipping

Tipping in India is a common practice. In hotels, porters and room service attendants are generally tipped once at the end of the stay. The amount of the tip is usually 5-10% but could be more if any special service was delivered. In restaurants, tips to waiters represent about 10% of the bill. If hiring a car for a full day, then the tip for the driver would be about Rs.200 – 300 depending on the distance travelled.

Weather in October

Throughout the month of October day-time temperatures will generally reach highs of around 33°C. At night the average minimum temperature drops down to around 21°C.

The average daily relative humidity for October is around 52%

Safety and Security

New Delhi can generally be regarded as a safe city. However, participants are advised to observe normal safety precautions when moving around the city. In particular:

Stay alert: watch your luggage and briefcase.

Please enquire at your hotel reception desk about the use of safe deposit boxes.

Always carry with you the name and address of your hotel (preferably in both English and Hindi). This will be helpful should you need to take a taxi.

Should you encounter anything unforeseen and require assistance, please make use of the emergency services number: 100

Note that neither WHO nor the local organizers can be held responsible for the loss of personal objects left unattended at meetings.